Electrical connector assembly

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to an electrical connector housing assembly of the kind comprising a block of insulating material having a passageway therethrough for receiving an electrical connecting member, and means in the passageway engaging with corresponding means of the connecting member when inserted in the passageway to retain the member in the passageway.

D United States Patent 1 3,582,869

[72] Inventor Heinz A. Millinger 56] R f n Cit d A I N g g szg UNITED STATES PATENTS 1 2,691,146 /1954 Pollock 339/217 [22] Filed Sept. 15, 1969 2,944,241 7/1960 Londell 339/91(P) Patented June 1, 1971 3 7 2 196 V 339 217 S [73] Assignce AMP Incorporated ,1 5 .2/ 5 an Horssen Harrisburg, Pa. Primary Examiner-Marvin A. Champion [32] Priority Sept. 16, 1968 Assistant ExaminerRobert A. Hafer [33] Germany Attorneys-Curtis, Morris & Safford, William .I. Keating, [3]] P 17 130.3 William Hintze, Frederick W. Raring, John R. Hopkins,

Adrian J. La Rue and .lay L. Seitchik ABSTRACT: This invention relates to an electrical connector [54] ELEgTRlC-AL CPNNFCTOR ASSEMBLY housing assembly of the kind comprising a block of insulating 8 Chums, 5 Drawing Figs.

material having a passageway therethrough for receiving an [52] US. Cl 339/217 electrical connecting member, and means in the passageway [5 l] Int. Cl i; H0lr 9/08 engaging with corresponding means of the connecting [50] Field of Search 339/91, member when inserted in thepassageway to retain the member in the passageway.

' PATENTED JUN nan 3.582.869

SHEET 1 OF 3 INVENTOR HEINZ A. MILLINGE R PATENTEU'JUNHHYI 3,582,869

' same or 3 I Q INVENTORQ HEINZ A. MILLI'NGER ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY This invention relates to electrical connectors and more particularly to an electrical connector assembly of an insulating housing and an electrical terminal which are provided with retaining means for retaining the terminal in a passageway of the housing. 1

Electrical connecting members for use in assemblies of this kind are often provided with more than one deflectable latching means, for example spring lances, which project from the sides of the member. These lances are forced against the member or into holes in the member as the member is inserted in a passageway and when the member is fully inserted in the passageway the lances spring outwardly to engage behind shoulders formed in the passageway and thus prevent the member from being rearwardly withdrawn. If it is necessary at any time to remove the connecting member, a tool is inserted into the passageway from the front end to depress the lances and bring them out of engagement with the shoulders so that the members can be withdrawn from the rear.

It is not always convenient for the lances to be depressed from the front end as the assembly may be used in applications where access to the front end of the passageway is impossible and in these applications the member must be able to be released and removed from the rear of the block.

A form of assembly has been proposed in which a flexible lance is formed in the wall of the passageway or in a liner of this wall. The lance is forward facing and is depressed as a connecting member having a rear facing shoulder is passed into the passageway. As the shoulder passes the lance, the lance springs behind the shoulder and prevents the member from being withdrawn. To remove the member, a tool is inserted into an area of the passageway around the member and the lance is depressed against the sidewalls of the passageway and out of engagement with the shoulder, so that the member can be pulled out rearwardly. The form of connecting member used has to be specially manufactured with the shoulders since the conventional form of connecting member with rearwardly projecting lances cannot be used.

According to the present invention an electrical connector housing assembly comprises a block of insulating material having a passageway therethrough for receiving an electrical connecting member, the passageway having a first stop means engageable by corresponding stop means on the connecting member to limit the movement of the member in the passageway in its direction of insertion, and second stop means engageable by deflectable latching means on the connecting member to limit the movement of the connecting member in a direction reverse to the direction ofinsertion, the passageway including a release area containing release means adjacent the second stop means, and an access way communicating with'the release area to enable the release means to be operated.

One object and therefore an advantage to be gained from this invention is that conventional connecting members can be used thus removing the need for expensive tools being manufactured to form special members.

Another object is that the release member is itself of a simple construction. 7

A further object is that the passageways and access ways can be easily formed in the block by conventional molding techniques.

Other objects and attainments of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings in which there are shown and described illustrative embodiments of the invention; it is to be understood, however, that these embodiments are not intended to be exhaustive nor limiting of the invention "but are given for purposes of illustration in order that others skilled in the art may fully understand the invention and the principles thereof and the manner of applying it in practical use so that they may modify it in various forms, each as may be best suited to the conditions ofa'particular use.

In order that the invention may be readily understood, various embodiments of an assembly in accordance therewith will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, by way ofexample only.

In the drawings:

FIG. I is a perspective view, partly in section, showing a passageway in an insulating block with an electrical connecting member in position in the passageway;

FIG. 1A shows the release tool;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing a modification of the construction of the passageway;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of part of a two-section block forming an electrical connector housing assembly; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of part of an insulating block forming an electrical connector housing assembly.

In FIGS. l4, common parts are indicated by the same reference numeral.

The assembly comprises a block 1 of insulating material having an upper surface 2 and a rear surface 3. A passageway 4 is formed in the block I and extends through the block from the rear surface 3 to an opposite front surface (not shown). An access way 5 in the form of an open groove in the surface 2 extends into the block I from the rear surface 3 to terminate in a recess area 6, which area is also common to or in communication with the passageway 4. The passageway 4 and the access way 5 are separated along their length by a wall 7 having an enlarged portion 8 forming a rearward facing shoulder 9 forming a first stop means and a forward facing shoulder 10 forming second step means.

A conventional electrical connecting member 11 is shown lying in the passageway 4. The member 11 has a forward end (not shown) which is a plug or a receptacle portion 12 and has rearwardly extending spring lances l3 projecting from its sides. To the rear of the lances 13, the member II has a barrel portion 14 connected to an enlarged tubular part 15. The part 15 is connected to two ferrule portions l6, 17. The first portion 16 is crimped to the conductors 18 of a lead I9 and the second portion I7 is crimped to the outer cover of this lead 19.

A release member 21 is positioned in the release area 6. The member 21 is made ofa spring material and has a substantially circular part 22 lying concentric with the longitudinal axis of the passageway 4 and around the projecting lances 13. Two operative arms 23 project up from the part 22 and terminate in lugs 24 which are bent at right angles to the arms 23.

Iii practice, a composite block is made up of a number of blocks 1. Each block I has a plurality of passageways 4 and access ways 5 formed in it. The blocks 1 are assembled on top of each other with the bottom surface of one block resting on the upper surface 2 of the block beneath. The top block has a plate (not shown) on top of it. The access ways 5 thus become passages instead of grooves. Prior to assembly, the release members 21 are inserted into each release area 6. With the blocks so assembled, the connecting members 11 crimped to leads 19 are inserted in the passageways 4 from the direction of the rear surface 3. As the lances 13 enter the passageway 4, they engage shoulder 9 and are deflected onto the portion 12 of the member 11 so as to be able to pass the narrow portion of passageway 4 defined by the portion 8. When the rearmost ends of the lances 13 have passed beyond the portion 8 and are in the release area 6, they spring out to their former positions and abut the shoulder 10. This abutment prevents the connecting member II from being withdrawn rearwardly. Further forward insertion of the member 11 is prevented by the leading edge 25 of the tubular part 15 engaging shoulder 9. The connecting member 11 is thus firmly locked in position in the passageway 4.

In this position, which is a shown in FIG. I, the lances 13 are substantially encircled by the part 22 of the release member 21. lfit is desired to release the member II, a tool 30 as shown in FIG. 1A is used. This tool has a dimension such as to fit within the access way 5. The front of the tool is bifurcated to form two legs 31 each having a tapered internal edge 32 leading to a slot 33. As the tool is pushed into the access way 5, the edges 32 engage the operative arms 23 and force them together into slot 33. As the arms 23 move together, the circular part 22 closes about the connecting member ll forcing the lances l3 inwardly and out of engagement with the shoulder 10. When the lances 13 are clear of this shoulder, a rearward pull on the lead 19 withdraws the lances 13 through the narrow portion of the passageway 4 and out of the passageway. The gripping effect of the part 22 on the lances 13 is adjusted to render this withdrawal process smooth. After withdrawal, the tool 30 is removed, the member 21 assumes its normal position and a new connecting member 11 can now be inserted in the passageway 4.

FIG. 2 shows a modification of the block 1 of HO. 1, in which the narrow portion of the passageway 4 has been replaced by a separate free floating ring 35 having rear facing and front-facing shoulders 36 and 37 respectively which present shoulders equivalent to the shoulders 9 and of FIG. 1. This modification is useful in applications where some degree of float is required in the positions of the connecting members to correct for the misalignment of mating two connector members. The free floating ring 35 then acts as a pivotal point for the connecting member 11.

According to the first alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 3, a passageway 4 is formed as in the embodiment of FIG. I but being nearer to the upper surface 2 so that effectively the upper surface of the wall 7 is flush with the surface 2. The release area 6 in the block 1 is thus smaller, so that the operative arms 23 and the lugs 24 of the release member 21 project above the surface 2. A top plate or another block 41 is fitted on top of the block 1 with the bottom surface of block 41 resting on surface 2. The block 41 has an open sided groove 42 cut in its bottom surface and this is positioned above the passageway 4 so that it forms an access way for a release tool to be inserted to operate the arms 23 which become located at the end of the groove 42.

FIG. 4 shows a second alternative embodiment where the access way is transverse to the direction of the passageway 4. Here the recess area 6 extends upwards through an access passage 43 to the top surface 2 and release means of a different type than the tool of FIG. 1A have to be used. These release means may be of a reverse scissors type having shaped ends which engage in holes 44 in the lugs 24 to move the operative arms 23 together. The access passageway 43 may lead out to a side surface instead of the top surface if this is more convenient merely by reorienting the access area 6.

It will, therefore, be appreciated that the aforementioned and other desirable objects have been achieved; however, it should be emphasized that the particular embodiments of the invention, which are shown and described herein, are intended as merely illustrative and not as restrictive of the invention.

lclaim:

1. An electrical connector housing assembly comprising a block of insulating material having a passageway thercthrough for receiving an electrical connecting member, the passageway having first stop means engageable by corresponding stop means on a connecting member to limit the movement of the member in the passageway in its direction of insertion, and second stop means engageable by defiectable latching means on the connecting member to limit the move ment of the connecting member in a direction reverse to the direction of insertion, the passageway including a release area containing release means adjacent the second stop means and an access way communicating with the release area to enable the release means to be operated, the access waybeing parallel to the passageway and separated therefrom by a wall.

2. An assembly according to claim 1, in which the wall has an enlarged portion extending into the passageway and forming the first and second stop means. 3

3. An electrical connector assembly comprising, in combination, a dielectric housing and an electrical connecting member, said housing having a passageway extending therethrough, first and second stop means in said passageway, said passageway including a release area in communication with said passageway and an access area in communication with said release area, release means in said release area and having depressible means disposed in said passageway, said connecting member disposed in said passageway and having a contact section and a conductor-engaging section, first stopengaging means provided by said connecting member for engagement with said first stop means to limit movement of said connecting member in said passageway in one direction, and second stop-engaging means provided by said connecting member for engagement with said second stop means to limit movement of said connecting member in said passageway in a direction opposite to the one direction, said second stopengaging means being deflectable and being disposed in alignment with said depressible means of said release means, said release means adapted to be engaged by a release tool via said access area to depress said dcpressible means thereby deflecting said second stop-engaging means inwardly causing said second stop-engaging means to clear said second stop means so that said connecting member can be removed from said passageway.

4. An electrical connector housing assembly comprising a block of insulating material having a passageway therethrough for receiving an electrical connecting member, the passageway having first stop means engageablc by corresponding stop means on a connecting member to limit the movement of the member in the passageway in its direction of insertion, and second stop means engageable by defiectable latching means on the connecting member to limit the movement of the connecting member in a direction reverse to the direction of insertion, the passageway including a release area containing release means adjacent the second stop means and an access way communicating with the release area to enable the release means to be operated, the release means comprising a member of spring material having a part arranged substantially to surround the deflectablc latching means and having operative arms extending from the part into the line of the access way.

5. An assembly according to claim 4, in which the access way is integral with the passageway except adjacent the area where it is separated from the passageway by a bridge forming on either side of the first and second stop means.

6. An assembly according to claim 4, in which the block is formed in two parts, one part containing the passageway and the other part containing the access way.

7. An assembly according to claim 4, in which the access way is transverse to the direction of the passageway.

8. An assembly according to claim 4, in which the lugs on the ends of the operative arms are provided with means engageable by a release tool. 

1. An electrical connector housing assembly comprising a block of insulating material having a passageway therethrough for receiving an electrical connecting member, the passageway having first stop means engageable by corresponding stop means on a connecting member to limit the movement of the member in the passageway in its direction of insertion, and second stop means engageable by deflectable latching means on the connecting member to limit the movement of the connecting member in a direction reverse to the direction of insertion, the passageway including a release area containing release means adjacent the second stop means and an access way communicating with the release area to enable the release means to be operated, the access way being parallel to the passageway and separated therefrom by a wall.
 2. An assembly according to claim 1, in which the wall has an enlarged portion extending into the passageway and forming the first and second stop means.
 3. An electrical connector assembly comprising, in combination, a dielectric housing and an electrical connecting member, said housing having a passageway extending therethrough, first and second stop means in said passageway, said passageway including a release area in communication with said passageway and an access area in communication with said release area, release means in said release area and having depressible means disposed in said passageway, said connecting member disposed in said passageway and having a contact section and a conductor-engaging section, first stop-engaging means provided by said connecting member for engagement with said first stop means to limit movement of said connecting member in said passageway in one direction, and second stop-engaging means provided by said connecting member for engagement with said second stop means to limit movement of said connecting member in said passageway in a direction opposite to the one direction, said second stop-engaging means being deflectable and being disposed in alignment with said depressible means of said release means, said release means adapted to be engaged by a release tool via said access area to depress said depressible means thereby deflecting said second stop-engaging means inwardly causing said second stop-engaging means to clear said second stop means so that said connecting member can be removed from said passageway.
 4. An electrical connector housing assembly comprising a block of insulating material having a passageway therethrough for receiving an electrical connecting member, the passageway having first stop means engageable by corresponding stop means on a connecting member to limit the movement of the member in the passageway in its direction of insertion, and second stop means engageable by deflectable latching means on the connecting member to limit the movement of the connecting member in a direction reverse to the direction of insertion, the passageway including a release area containing release means adjacent the second stop means and an access way communicating with the release area to enable the release means to be operated, the release means comprising a member of spring material having a part arranged substantially to surround the deflectable latching means and having operative arms extending from the part into the line of the access way.
 5. An assembly according to claim 4, in which the access way is integral with the passageway except adjacent the area where it is separated from the passageway by a bridge forming on either side of the first and second stop means.
 6. An assembly according to claim 4, in which the block is formed in two parts, one part containing the passageway and the other part containing the access way.
 7. An assembly according to claim 4, in which the access way iS transverse to the direction of the passageway.
 8. An assembly according to claim 4, in which the lugs on the ends of the operative arms are provided with means engageable by a release tool. 